The present invention relates to a paperboard shipping and display container and, in particular, to the combination of a paperboard outer container and an inner filler member provided with cavities by which full size or sample size products are securely held when the container is in closed or in open condition.
Representative of the conventional shipping and display containers is that shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,332. In this patent, a container is constructed from a single unitary blank folded into a rectangular box-like body having an open windowed top panel to one longitudinal edge of which is hinged a lid member. The side panels are openable so as to permit a foam plastic filler body to be inserted therein. The filler body is provided with cavities in which various products are held so as to be visible through the open top panel. The top, bottom, and lid members of the container are arranged in the blank, one above the other in vertical direction and are folded along parallel fold lines to form the box.
While the arrangement shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,332, is simple to form as a blank, and to erect in the box configuration, there are several disadvantages to its construction, which, not incidentally, hold for the comparable conventional prior art.
Namely:
1. There is limited display space provided either when the lid is closed or when the lid is opened, there being only the single lid available for imprinting.
2. The available space for decorative art work to visually enhance the product is also limited, not only by the lack of the available space, but also by the fact that when space is provided, it is made up of small isolated sections, i.e., only the front and back surfaces of the lid which are not contiguous.
3. The display space within the container is also limited by the fact that the top panel member is opened completely so as to form a large window in which the filler body is inserted and in which the product is held. As a result, the upper panel is useless for additional printed or decorative matter.
4. While the container may function as a mailer or shipping container it is, in fact, weak in that its single lid must be sealed about its entire periphery to insure sufficient strength as well as to insure that the filler body will remain in position.
5. The container does not provide a convenient receptacle or pocket for any additional advertising material, such as brochures or order forms, which additional material, if furnished at all, must be laid directly on the sample panels between the filler body and the lid where it may prove harmful to the product samples and well as being easily subjected to loss.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a combined sample shipping and display container which overcomes each of the foregoing disadvantages and which provides a container which is simple, inexpensive, and easily decorated, as well as being efficient for display purposes and advertising purposes. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a paperboard blank capable of forming the above novel container.
These objects as well as other objects will be apparent from the following disclosure in which they will both be described and noted in detail, and will be clearly recognizable to the reader.